Dehydration: Newbie here

Hi group,
I am the wife of a 60 year old male newly diagnosed with left side colon only involvement. (too much info?)

Anyhow, we're only in week three since diagnosis, but he's had diverticulitis for over 15 years.

We're working with food diaries, and symptom loggers and found a few triggers already, but he got VERY VERY dehydrated VERY fast 72 hours ago. All I had in the house was gatorade powder, so we used that.....although, it would not have been my first choice.

Anyhow, he now has diarrhea after a horrible round of constipation, which I'm sort of thankful for.....and we've changed him back to BRATY diet (with some baked fish tonight for extra protein). AND.....we're now using DripDrop powder instead of the gatorade (which is what I THINK set off the diarrhea).

However, my QUESTION (finally, I know) is this: How do you know if it was set off by the gatorade OR it was started by rehydration quickly? He's not in pain, he's feeling stronger and his pulse is back to normal with no more headache. Thoughts from those who've been at this much longer are appreciated.

I totally agree, pb4. I keep gatorade powder here just for ME to use about twice a year when I over-do in the garden, but that's all I had at that time. Drip Drop is nearly identical in composition to pedialyte, but it's powder, which he prefers since he can take it in his briefcase to work easier. (and he HATES coconut water...makes his tummy cramp up something awful).

SO, you think as I did that it WAS the gatorade? I figure it really is, but I wanted to ask the more experienced since by searching, I did find it had been quite the topic of conversation....yet, didn't quite fit my precise circumstance.

Thanks pb4 for the quick reply. I really appreciate all the info I can get. :)

There's some useful information in this article:

www.diarrheadietitian.com/?p=455

Looking at the chart in the article Gatorade doesn't seem to have the right ratio of sodium to potassium to be effective for severe dehydration. The article states that the higher the osmolality (see chart) the higher the risk of osmotic diarrhea. Gatorade has a relatively high osmolality so it does seem that it can make diarrhea worse.

garylouisville: He's only on probiotics and Lialda at this time (and his blood pressure pill, which is not due to this), with a half dose of Milk of Magnesia as needed for constipation (twice in three weeks). He goes back to the doc tomorrow, so that may change then.

For electrolytes I used a product called Ener-C but I think you can only get that in Canada. A more popular one is called Emergen-C. The problem, I found, is that the ascorbic acid content is too high, and when my flare was at its worst any acidity aggravated it.

Gatorate is crap. It has too many additives, not to mention food dye. It might have been what set him off, but if the flare is severe it's hard to tell.

I ended up doing this simple recipe and it helped:
1L (1 quart) room temperature water (DON'T give him cold water)
Two lemon or lime halves
Two orange halves
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (don't use table salt)
Tablespoon of raw, unpasteurized honey
- if he can handle banana, mash (or blend) half a banana into the mixture for potassium
- optionally, you can replace the honey with blackstrap molasses, it's very rich in minerals; but don't use both

Shake and serve.

I suffered MAJOR dehydration during my flare once I was taken off IV. The key is to take sips, not gulps, every 15 minutes. Don't let him chug the entire drink even if he is very thirsty.

Another thing you might want to consider is cooked brown rice water or potato water. You just use the water from cooking these things. The water will have basic nutrition and the starch coats the gut. But if he is highly reactive to starch then maybe forget it.

Sounds like you're at a very delicate stage. Good luck!